Suddenly the brig gave a heavy
lurch.
"There she goes!" the captain exclaimed.
A moment later the hull had disappeared, and the schooner remained
alone.
By this time, the whole of the ladies had ascended from their place of
safety to the poop, and a general exclamation broke from the
passengers, as the brig disappeared.
"The schooner will pick them all up," the captain said. "They must
have suffered heavily from our fire, but I don't think any will have
gone down with her. The boat, which has already reached the schooner,
must have taken a good many, and the mainmast and foretopmast and
spars would support the rest, to say nothing of the things they have
thrown overboard. There is one wasp the less afloat."
No further adventure was met with, throughout the voyage. They had a
spell of bad weather off the Cape, but the captain said it was nothing
to the gales they often encountered there, and that the voyage, as a
whole, was an exceptionally good one; for, even after the delays they
had encountered at the start, the passage had lasted but four months
and a half.
They touched at Point de Galle for news, and to ascertain whether any
French warships had been seen, of late, along the coast.
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